Inductees

Thousands of high performance athletes have passed through the doors of Team Bath over the years. Among them are an elect few who have shone as instrumental ambassadors for both the University of Bath and Team Bath throughout their outstanding careers.

Born in Bath, Jason was coached at the University of Bath by Malcolm Arnold. Nicknamed the ‘Bath Bullet’, he led off the GB 4x100m quartet that won gold at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

His other major achievements include four successive European Indoor Championships gold medals over 60m and in 1999 he became only the third GB sprinter to dip under the 10-second barrier for 100m, clocking a time of 9.98 seconds.

He was an ambassador for the 2008 UK School Games and the 2013 Special Olympics GB National Summer Games. He also chairs the Team Bath Athletes’ Forum and is president of UK Athletics.

Ben, coached at the University of Bath by Rob Ellchuk, won medals at back-to-back Paralympic Games, with silver at Beijing in 2008 and bronze at London 2012 in the T36 category for athletes with cerebral palsy.

He graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Sports Performance in 2009 and was voted the University’s Sports Personality of the Year in the same year.

Amy’s inclusion in the Hall of Fame follows a career in the sport of skeleton which was capped by a spectacular gold medal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Throughout her career as an athlete and, since her retirement in 2012, as a TV personality Williams has been an outstanding ambassador both for the City and the University.

Amy’s gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games was all the more remarkable as it was the first gold medal of her skeleton career.

Her earlier successes had included silver medals at the World Winter University Games and World Junior Championships, both in 2005, and at the World Championships in 2009.

Williams’ gold medal on the challenging Whistler track used at the Vancouver Games was Britain’s only medal of the Games, and Britain’s first individual gold medal at an Olympic Winter Games for 30 years. Williams also became the first woman individual gold medallist for 58 years.

Williams has lived in Bath for most of her life and was made a Member of the British Empire in 2010 and installed an Honorary Freeman of the City of Bath.

Dr Tom Hudson

Former director of sport at the University of Bath (1971-1992) Tom played an instrumental role in establishing the scholarships programme at Team Bath, allowing students to achieve at the highest level of sport while continuing successfully with their academic studies.

Among those to have benefited in the past are London 2012 Olympic medallists Michael Jamieson (swimming) and Samantha Murray (modern pentathlon).

A modern pentathlete at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and later a Bath Rugby coach, Tom also oversaw the opening of the original sports hall, now known as the Founders Hall, and helped to substantially expand the sporting opportunities available to students.

Headline achievements

Fitness coach at Llanelli RFC when they famously became the first club side ever to beat the All Blacks

Co-penned revolutionary book on fitness for football referees with two-time World Cup referee Clive Thomas

Established scholarship programme at University of Bath

Oversaw significant improvements to University’s sports facilities, paving the way for the modern day STV

Lyn Gunson

The inspiration for a generation of netball players and coaches, Gunson became the first coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Gunson, nee Parker, captained the New Zealand netball team for 12 years before coaching the Silver Ferns to an incredible 45 wins from 49 test matches during the 1990s.

Her multi-dimensional, player-led approach then helped to revolutionise netball both with Team Bath and England following her move to the University of Bath in 1999, initially to study for a doctorate.

Dozens of players under Gunson’s guidance went on to enjoy successful careers both at international level and in the fledgling Superleague, with Team Bath winning the first two titles under her leadership.

Headline achievements

Coached New Zealand netball team to one of the greatest international performance records in the history of the sport

Guided Team Bath to Superleague titles in 2006 and 2007 during her first two years in charge

Coached England Netball during the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games and 2003 World Championships

Appointed leader of the English Performance Coaches Programme

Became the first overseas person to be granted life membership of England Netball

Jan’s contribution to achievements at Team Bath is among the finest success stories in our history to date.

A former modern pentathlete himself, winning individual bronze and team silver at the 1976 Olympics, Jan has overseen unprecedented success for the sport in the UK.

After taking over the role of Pentathlon GB’s national performance director based at the University of Bath, Jan established the National Training Centre at the Sports Training Village in 1998. Within the Centre, he implemented the Performance Pathway System which has seen modern pentathlon become one of Britain’s most successful Olympic sports.

Under his guidance, medals have been won at each of the last four Games.

Paul Palmer

Paul’s impact on sport at the University of Bath stretches far beyond the superb silver medal he achieved at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

He was one of Great Britain’s most successful swimmers of the 1990s, qualifying for the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he finished 9th and 10th in the 200m and 400m competitions respectively.

After his experiences in Barcelona, Paul and his coach Ian relocated to the pool here at the University of Bath in order to give Paul best chance of success at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.

The move worked perfectly and in 1996, Paul Palmer won the 400m freestyle silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics. He then went on to secure gold at the European Long Course Championships in Seville in 1997, as he claimed victory in the 200m freestyle.

After winning Olympic silver Palmer was outspoken on the national stage about the lack of funding for elite athletes. He took the then Prime Minister John Major to task in the national media.

His pioneering public statements dovetailed, unbeknown to him, with the research work being done at the same time by University of Bath graduate David Carpenter on lottery-funded sport around the globe which greatly assisted the advent of the National Lottery with sport as one of the supported “good causes”.

Eventually the lottery, through Sport England, supplied £21 million towards the overall investment needed to build the Sports Training Village which since 2004 has seen generations of athletes win medals on the world stage as well as being open seven days a week to the public of Bath.

Bobby Crutchley

Hockey coach Bobby Crutchley became the eighth Hall of Fame inductee when he was presented with the honour on 2 February 2016.

Crutchley, who was Head Hockey Coach at the University of Bath from 1999 to 2006, drew on the experience he gained while winning 80 caps for England and GB as a player to oversee a significant growth in the University’s hockey programme.

Crutchley arrived at a time when closer links were being forged with Bath Buccaneers Hockey Club. They now play under the Team Bath name and are well established in the England Hockey League.

His initial international involvement was as Assistant Coach from 2005 to 2012, during which time England won the 2009 European Championships – their first major title since 1908.

After the London 2012 Olympic Games, Crutchley took over as England Head Coach and has overseen a significant transformation in both the playing squad and support staff.

In 2014 England were bronze medallists in the inaugural FIH World League, semi-finalists at the World Cup and won the nation’s first Commonwealth Games medal since Crutchley won bronze in 1998 as a player.

In 2015 he led Great Britain to qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Headline achievements

England (player) – won over 80 international caps

Team Bath (coach) – oversaw formation of Team Bath Buccaneers

England (assistant head coach) – bronze medallists in the inaugural FIH World League, semi-finalists at the World Cup and won the nation’s first Commonwealth Games medal since 1998

England (head coach) – led Great Britain to qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Olympic, World and European rowing champion Heather Stanning became the latest inductee into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport in March 2016.

Stanning first took up rowing while studying Sports Technology at the University and developed her talent with the GB Rowing Team Start Programme based at the Sports Training Village (STV) and Minerva Bath Rowing Club.

Aspiring Olympians currently on the Start Programme joined members of Minerva and the University’s Boat Club in a large crowd at the STV to see Stanning welcomed into the Hall of Fame by Director of Sport Stephen Baddeley.

“It’s an absolute honour to be in this Hall of Fame,” she said. “There are some great athletes who have been to the University of Bath, so to be up there with them is a proud achievement.

Former England captain and five-time Superleague champion with Team Bath between 2006 and 2013 Pamela Cookey joined the University’s Hall of Fame for Sport in March 2016.

The ceremony took place in front of more than 1,000 netball fans in the Team Bath Arena and thousands watching on Sky Sports during Team Bath’s televised Superleague win against Celtic Dragons.

Cookey, a graduate of the University, was presented with the award by Director of Sport Stephen Baddeley and became the first netballer to join names such as Olympic and Paralympic medallists Jason Gardener, Amy Williams, Heather Stanning and Ben Rushgrove in the Hall of Fame.

“Pamela has all the attributes to enter our Hall of Fame,” said Baddeley. “She played with passion and skill both for Team Bath and England and was a stand-out player globally.

Olympic modern pentathlon medallist Kate Allenby was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Sport in May 2016 alongside fellow modern pentathlete Stephanie Cook.

The pair both competed at Sydney 2000 where they spurred each other on, with Allenby eventually taking bronze.

She earlier produced a landmark performance in women’s sport when she won the European Championships in 1997 and a year later she added the World Cup Final title.

A double-gold winner at the 2001 World Championships in the team and relay events, Allenby also won individual bronze in 2003 and silver in 2004 before bringing the curtain down on her illustrious career with a second World Cup Final title in 2004.

Modern pentathlete Stephanie Cook wrote her name into the record books on October 1, 2000 when she won the inaugural women’s modern pentathlon Olympic gold medal, famously recovering from a 49-second deficit in the final running event.

That also made her the first person to be crowned as an Olympic champion while training at the University of Bath, the site of Pentathlon GB’s national training centre since 1996.

Cook retired in 2001, the same year she was awarded an MBE, after becoming one of the few British athletes from any sport to hold the World, Olympic and European titles at the same time.

Her legacy is still felt strongly in Bath thanks to her significant campaigning work with the University for funding and planning permission to build the Sports Training Village.

A qualified general practitioner, Cook was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Bath in 2008.

Headline achievements

2000 Olympic Games – gold medal

1999 World Championships – silver and gold (individual and team)

1998 World Championships – silver and bronze (individual and team events respectively)

Ivor Powell MBE

University of Bath icon Ivor Powell was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame for Sport on what would have been his 100th birthday in July.

Football Head Coach Powell first joined the coaching staff in 1972 and by the time he retired in May 2010, aged 93, was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest active football coach.

When Powell was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Director of Sport Stephen Baddeley commented that “there’s no one who will be inducted into this Hall of Fame who will have had as big an impact on as many people at the University than Ivor.”

Headline achievements

2002 – Oversaw Team Bath’s journey to becoming the first university team since 1881 to reach the first round proper of the FA Cup

2004 – Inducted into the Welsh Sporting Hall of Fame

2004 – Received FA Long Service Award for 50 years’ service to football

2006 – Ivor’s role as the world’s oldest football coach was recognised as a Guinness World Record

Kate Howey, the only British woman to have won two Olympic judo medals, returned to her former training base in November 2016 when she was inducted into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport.

Howey won bronze in 1992 at Barcelona and silver in 2000 at Sydney – the latter while studying Sports Performance at the University – before carrying the British flag at the Athens 2004 opening ceremony, her fourth Games.

She was also crowned as World Champion during her career and is still heavily involved in the sport – she coached fellow University of Bath alumna Gemma Gibbons to Olympic silver at London 2012 and was part of Team GB’s judo management team at the Rio 2016 Games.

Mark Foster

Mark Foster won 51 major international medals – including six World titles and two Commonwealth Games gold medals – during an illustrious swimming career that lasted 23 years. While at Bath, Foster pioneered the kind of land-training that today’s swimmers take for granted.

Foster represented his country at five Olympic Games and was Team GB’s flag bearer at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

The explosive freestyle and butterfly sprinter broke eight world records during a stellar career that also included 11 European Championship successes to go alongside his World, Commonwealth and British titles.

Ged Roddy

Ged Roddy’s pioneering spell as Director of Sport from 1992 to 2009 saw a significant expansion of activities and facilities that established the University of Bath as one of the country’s leading sporting institutions. He also famously managed Team Bath FC to the first round proper of the FA Cup in 2002, making them the first University side to reach that stage in 122 years.

As well as a significant expansion in facilities at the University, Roddy’s tenure saw staff numbers quadruple as a host of first-class coaches and sport science support were recruited. A number of national governing bodies and training squads also moved to Bath, laying the foundations for medal-winning performances at World, Olympic and Paralympic level.

Among the world-class athletes who made the Sports Training Village their home during Roddy’s tenure were five-time Olympic swimmer Mark Foster, world champion hurdler Colin Jackson and Olympic silver-medallist Paul Palmer – all of whom join Roddy in the Hall of Fame for Sport.

Headline achievements

Led Team Bath FC to the first round proper of the FA Cup

Oversaw vast developments at the STV, establishing it as the world class facility it is today

Attracted high level coaches, staff and athletes to the University of Bath

Established an ethos of aspiration and pride in Team Bath which paved the way for incredible success

Current England and Lions forwards coach Steve Borthwick combined a top-class playing career with studying Politics & Economics at the University of Bath, graduating in 2003.

Borthwick made his England debut in 2001 and went on to win 57 caps, 21 of them as captain, reaching the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

Since retiring from playing in 2014, Borthwick has forged an excellent coaching partnership with Eddie Jones. They led Japan to an unforgettable win over South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup before reviving England’s fortunes during the past two seasons. His then-record domestic career of 265 Premiership appearances included successful stints with Bath Rugby, who he led to European Challenge Cup victory in 2008, and Saracens, who he captained to the Premiership title in 2011.

At the induction, University of Bath Vice-President (Implementation) Steve Egan said: “Steve totally embraced studying at Bath and says that it was a brilliant place to enjoy every aspect of student life, from studies to sport to social.”

“He admits it was a juggling act to compete at the highest level whilst studying for a degree, just like many of our current batch of almost 150 Dual Career elite athletes.”

Sascha Kindred

Seven-times Paralympic swimming champion Sascha Kindred returned to his former training base in May 2017 to be inducted into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport.

It was while training at the University that Kindred won the first two of his Paralympic gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Games – one of the key moments, he believes, in a stellar international career that started in 1994 and concluded with a world-record triumph at Rio 2016.

At the induction ceremony, Kindred said: “This is where my career was kick-started. Previously I was training six or seven times a week, which was still quite a lot as a Paralympian, but once I came here the focus was purely on training and I was in the pool ten times a week. We had the physio and psychologist support as well and we had big names from other sports training here, so it was a really inspiring environment to be part of.

“Arguably Sydney was my best Paralympic Games in terms of results, performances and medals. I won four in total – two gold, one silver and one bronze – and I don’t think I ever quite reached those levels again. That was down to being based here.”

Francis epitomises much of the sporting experience at the University of Bath – as well as developing into a world-class performer for club and country under the guidance of Team Bath coaches, she studied Sports Performance and has gone on to enjoy a successful career both on and off the court.

She also helped to shape the current elite training environment at the £30million Sports Training Village through her role with the then-fledgling Athletes’ Forum, which continues to represent the needs of sportspeople using the facilities to maximise their potential.

Blake, who has cerebral palsy, was also crowned World Champion in 2011, 2013 and 2015, captaining the British Athletics team at the latter event in Doha, and continues to compete at the very pinnacle of his sport.